NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Monday.
Sule also disclosed that she had requested the state govt to defer the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) elections due to prevailing drought conditions, but the administration declined to postpone the polls.
There is an urgent need to elect a representative who prioritises grassroots issues and raises their voice effectively in the legislature,” she said. Speaking at the campaign event, Sule emphasized that voters must carefully evaluate a candidate’s loyalty, ideology, vision, and capacity to deliver. “Voters have given opportunities to many in the past; now they should try a new face. Meanwhile, deep fractures continue to plague Shiv Sena over its stance on supporting Chavan in the graduate constituency race. Sillod Sena MLA Abdul Sattar has openly broken ranks to extend support to Patil, holding independent campaign meetings despite alliance directives. Sattar recently met with Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar deputy mayor and Sena leader Rajendra Janjal, who has been locked in a public war of words with Guardian Minister Sanjay Shirsat.
Shirsat, who initially opposed Chavan’s candidature, later reversed his stand to align with Mahayuti coalition. Shirsat asserted that Sattar must toe the party line to support the Mahayuti nominee, adding that deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde would issue appropriate instructions to resolve the insubordination. Reacting to the internal rebellion, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Sunday that while an individual leader’s dissent cannot be treated as a party’s official stance, he expects the Shiv Sena leadership to take cognisance and enforce strict alliance discipline.